Small, Dark Places
by pdlbean
Summary: Booth and Brennan can't escape each other. Literally. It's time they have a talk. Based on a new spoiler that just came out. I got a little too excited and started writing. Don't read if you don't want spoilers! One-shot.


**This is based on a new spoiler that just came out and another upcoming storyline, so if you don't want spoilers, don't read! Everyone else, I hope you really like it! I had fun writing it!**

Small, Dark Places

Booth and Brennan were riding the elevator up to Booth's office to go through what they had so far on the case. Brennan turned to tell him something when they both felt a lurch, then a high-pitched whirring noise. "What was that?" Booth asked, looking up. Brennan shook her head. Suddenly, the lights in the elevator car went out and they both felt their stomachs drop as they began descending. Fast.

They gripped onto each other, eyes closed tight in fear. The fall lasted no more than three seconds, but to them it felt like an eternity. The car jolted to a stop, nearly knocking them off their feet. They were still in the dark, but at least they were no longer hurtling to their deaths. They were still holding each other, each panting as they tried to regain control of their breathing. "We were in no real danger," Brennan said after a moment, letting go of Booth and taking a few steps back.

"No real danger?" Booth repeated; his voice a little higher than usual. "We were on the tenth floor and we were in a free fall! I think that counts as danger, Bones!"

"There are multiple safeguards in place to prevent a free fall, Booth," she reasoned. There are several backup cables that can each hold thousands of pounds. And even if all of them fail, metal prongs automatically release in the event of a fall that grip onto the walls of the shaft and bring the car to a stop. It is highly improbable that so many mechanisms would all fail at the same time." Booth's breathing was still a little ragged as he took a couple of steps toward Brennan's voice. His hand found her shoulder and he squeezed it gently.

"You okay?" he asked in a soft whisper. Brennan shrugged him off.

"Yes, I'm fine. As I said, we were in no danger."

"Yeah, but you thought we were for a second there. I've never heard you scream like that, Bones. You're still shaking." Brennan shook her head again.

"No, you are. Your hands are trembling and when you touched me you mistakenly believed that it was me." Even though she couldn't see him, she just knew Booth was grinning.

"Well, you had one hell of a death grip on me, Bones." Brennan sighed. Just then, the lights turned back on. "Hey, look at that!" Booth exclaimed. "Maybe we'll start moving soon," he added hopefully.

As if on cue, they heard a man's voice fill the car. "Is there anyone in there?" Brennan found the button to turn on the intercom to reply and pressed it.

"Yes, Dr. Temperance Brennan and Special Agent Seeley Booth," she answered.

"Okay, you guys are between the third and fourth floors," the man explained. "We don't know what caused the main cable to fail yet, so it's gonna be a while before we can move you. You'll just have to sit tight for a few."

"How long is a few?" Booth asked irritably.

"That depends on what the problem is, sir," the man answered calmly. "Sorry for the inconvenience. We'll have you out of there as soon as we can." The intercom clicked off and Booth immediately began to pace.

"Booth, relax." He only shot her a glare and continued to walk the length of the small car. The electricity cut out again.

"Oh, _great_!" Brennan heard Booth's voice shout into the pitch black. "That's just _great!_"

"They most likely had to cut the power in order to perform maintenance." She heard Booth sigh heavily.

It was over an hour later, and the elevator was still completely dark. Their eyes had adjusted, however, and they could see each other distinctly. They were sitting on opposite ends of the car, with very little conversation between them. Booth heard rapid breathing next to him, and looked over to Brennan with concern. "Bones?" he called gently.

"I'm fine," Brennan insisted. Booth scooted a little closer to her. "It's just… I know logically that I haven't been kidnapped. That I haven't… been buried again. But it's very dark and very small in here. It makes me feel like I'm…"

"Yeah," Booth said in understanding. She felt his arm wrap around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm right here," he assured her. "And I know being stuck in an elevator with me is a million times better than being buried with Hodgins."

"Yes," Brennan agreed. "It would take at least two days for the two of us to complete the air in an elevator of this size."

"I meant because you aren't stuck with Hodgins," Booth joked. Brennan smiled when she saw him grinning at her. His mere presence calmed her nerves considerably. "Hey, we haven't decided where we're having dinner tonight," Booth said, trying desperately to change the subject.

"I already told you that whatever you decided would be fine," Brennan answered with her head resting comfortably against Booth's cheek.

"You sure?" he asked with humor in his voice. "Because I could pick something really gross." Brennan smiled and shook her head.

"I believe I'm the one who has exotic tastes, Booth," she pointed out. "Just last week you nearly vomited when we went somewhere I wanted to go."

"That's because I was stupid enough to let you order for me! 'Trust me, Booth' you said. Yeah, trust you. That was disgusting, Bones."

"It was a delicacy!"

"A delicacy, sure. Usually that's the part the butcher accidentally left behind and you throw away the whole thing to avoid the chance of biting into it." Brennan laughed and Booth rested his head on top of hers. "Hey, let's play our game." Brennan smiled. They had invented a new 'game' where Booth would say a quote from a popular movie and Brennan had to guess the movie. She called it an exercise in pop culture, but Booth mostly just called it 'fun.'

"Okay," she agreed. Booth thought a second.

"Let's start with an easy one. 'Luke, I am your father.'"

"Star Wars," Brennan answered easily. "Although I'm still unclear on which specific film of the series."

"That's okay. Good, that's one point for you. Okay, now they're gonna get a little harder. Let's see… 'I'm the key master, are you the gatekeeper?'" This time, Brennan only gave him a blank stare. "Oh come on, Bones! Ghostbusters?" Her expression didn't change. "You've never seen _Ghostbusters? _Bones, you can't call yourself an American if you've never seen Ghostbusters! When we get out of here we are so going to watch it." Booth watched as Brennan's expression changed from confusion, to happiness, to thoughtfulness.

"Why are we doing this?" Brennan asked. Booth gave her a confused look.

"Doing what?"

"This," Brennan repeated. "Going out to dinner an average of three nights a week. Going to Founding Fathers for drinks 'just because it's Saturday.' Going over to your apartment to watch some ridiculous, scientifically impossible movie you decided I 'just had to see.' Why are we doing those things?"

"We've always done that, Bones," Booth insisted, still completely lost. "It's what we do. We're friends."

"No, it's not what we do," Brennan retorted. "We used to eat dinner together once in a while. Certainly not multiple times a week. Drinks at Founding Fathers were usually reserved for after cases or when the others had invited both of us to join them. The change in our behavior occurred a little less than three months ago, I believe. I've observed the difference in what we are doing; I just don't know the reason for it."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Bones. Nothing has changed between us." Brennan ignored him completely.

"Is it because of Hannah?" Booth was paying attention now. "I know that it has been difficult for you since your relationship with her ended. The timeline fits. She left slightly less than three months ago."

"No, it's not because of Hannah," Booth promised, acknowledging for the first time that something had indeed changed between the partners.

"It's okay if it is," Brennan replied. "The two of you spent quite a lot of time together. You would have to fill that void with something, and I am the most logical choice."

"You're not anybody's replacement, Bones," he told her forcefully. And she wasn't. Not now, and not ever. "It's not about Hannah, okay? It's… it's because of Broadsky."

"Broadsky?" The sniper who had nearly destroyed Booth hadn't been mentioned between them since Booth had been forced to kill him. Booth nodded and tightened his grip on Brennan's shoulder.

"You understood, Bones," he explained. "You knew what that did to me. And you were there. You listened when I needed you to listen and you talked when I needed you to talk. You didn't run and you didn't expect anything out of me I wasn't prepared to give. No one… no one else knows me like that, Bones." Brennan smiled.

"I was only doing what any friend would do." Booth shook his head.

"No, Bones. You weren't. You were going what they call 'above and beyond the call of duty.' You aren't the only one of our friends who knows about my past. But you're the only one who stepped up. You were the only one who knew exactly what to do."

"That still doesn't quite explain why we're spending so much time together." Booth chuckled. That would be her first concern. Her question hadn't been answered. So, why were they spending so much time together? There were certainly some things they had done in the last few months that were way out of the normal routine. But really, he had known all along what the reason was for his newfound interest in being with his partner nearly every waking moment.

He thought of not telling her. But, that would make him the biggest idiot on the face of the earth. Only an intense imbecile missed the opportunity to be with the love of his life three separate times. "What you told me in October," he began, knowing that this particular subject was to be dealt with carefully. "You know, about missing your chance with me?" Brennan's eyes met his. "Is that… still how you feel?"

Brennan studied his face, trying to determine whether or not he was trying to be unkind or vindictive. No, she thought, Booth wouldn't do that. She nodded slowly in answer. "I found that the idea that the brain only takes three days to adjust to new circumstances is completely flawed." Booth had absolutely no idea what that meant. "It has been six months since then, and I admit that I still have lingering romantic feelings for you. I've just learned to ignore them." The corners of Booth's mouth lifted into a small smile.

"I never stopped loving you, you know," he said. He was gaining confidence with every word. "Not for one second."

"In an atta-girl kind of way," Brennan completed, sure that this is what he meant. Booth shook his head.

"No," he insisted. "In a 'you're the first thing on my mind when I wake up and the last thing on my mind when I go to sleep'; 'I dream about blue-eyed, charm-smiling babies'; 'I make up excuses just so I can see you' kind of way." Brennan was speechless. "Have I back-burnered, ignored, and flat-out denied it before? Sure. But that doesn't mean it wasn't there. It just took the Broadsky case for it to rise back up to the surface."

"You and Hannah were together when Broadsky claimed his first victim," Brennan observed.

"Yes," Booth agreed simply. "We were." Brennan let what that meant sink in for a moment. "Hannah didn't know that I used to be a sniper, she didn't know a lot of things about me. But she still ran. But not you, Bones. You know everything. You know more than anyone. But… you don't run, do you? You just stay here with me."

"That night…" He instantly knew she was referring to one of two nights. "I wasn't running from you. I was running from me. I apologize if that wasn't clear. It was never your fault, Booth," Brennan promised.

"I know that now." The pair shared a smile.

"I don't understand," Brennan admitted. "How can you claim to have been in love with both me and Hannah at the same time? You've told me time and again that there is only one person who is meant to be your partner in life. Only one true love." Booth shook his head vehemently.

"I loved Hannah, sure, but I'm _in _love with you."

"I don't know what that means," Brennan said, making Booth laugh. He shifted his position so he was sitting in front of her.

"It _means_, Temperance, that my feelings for Hannah have already faded. She left three months ago and I'm already pretty much over it. But you? I confessed my feelings and you said no. I didn't have any communication with you at all for seven months. I tried to move on and I found a great woman who I thought I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. But nothing ever changed. Nothing that counted, anyway. It's always been you, Bones." The lights turned back on, and the partners were temporarily blinded. Booth stood and offered his hand to help Brennan up. "So… what do you say?" he asked when they were both standing, not able to handle her deafening silence any longer.

"There are things that still frighten me," she admitted. Booth started to panic. He was being turned down. Again. "I still can't guarantee that how I feel now will be how I feel in ten years, or even ten minutes. However, I have found in the last few months that my feelings for you are incredibly profound. They are still very strong and I am still unable to ignore them. And, although it is completely irrational and ridiculous, I've spent quite a lot of time telling myself that if I ever had a chance to change the way things happened, I would. This is that chance. I'm an incredibly fast learner, Booth. I'm not one who usually makes the same mistake twice." Booth grinned.

"So… is that a 'yes, Booth, let's give this a chance'?" he asked hopefully. Brennan's answer was to crush her lips to his.

The pair didn't separate for quite some time, and when they finally did Booth felt like the world around him was moving. "Wow," he muttered, looking into her eyes.

"We're lifting," Brennan said, not breaking eye contact. Booth rested his forehead against hers.

"Mmm, you feel it too?" he asked as his arms wrapped around her waist. Brennan gave him a quizzical look.

"Yes," she said, stretching the word out in a way that told him that his question was somehow completely ridiculous. "My inner ear is functional and has no problem telling me when I'm rising, Booth." Booth looked around and realized that they were, in fact, _literally _lifting.

"Oh," he said, embarrassed. "We're _lifting_. Yeah. Well good. We're outta here." Brennan took his hand in hers and smiled up at him.

"By the way, I wouldn't describe the sensation I have when we kiss as lifting," she said. "I would say it's more of a spinning." Booth grinned at her confession and gave her another kiss, and they both found out what it was like to rise up and spin at the same time.

**So there you go! I hope this scene, when it comes, is really the one we're all waiting for. I think it's time, don't you? Tell me what you thought!**


End file.
